The present application relates generally to the field of vehicle lighting. More specifically, the present application relates to systems and methods for vehicle lighting including a single channel, dual mode switch power supply for controlling two independent light sources.
Generally speaking, vehicle lighting systems, such as automotive headlamps and taillights, can include one or more LED light sources to provide both low intensity and high intensity lighting functions (sometimes referred to as a dual mode function). Typically, the low intensity and high intensity functions are controlled using a current regulator, such as an electronics driver based on a switch mode power supply (SMPS), which can regulate an output current to a series of LEDs. However, because of the dual mode design, a dual channel driver is usually required to control the low intensity and high intensity functionality. The use of a dual channel driver can require an increase in electrical component count, overall system complexity, and potential component failures due to the number of electrical components required in the circuit.
Additionally, in a typical dual mode application with a dual channel driver, both channels are not operating at exactly the same frequency, and therefore, are not necessarily operating in sync. This can ultimately lead to electromagnetic compatibility issues, because of the difference in ON and OFF times for the switching components of the dual channel driver.